


Family Secrets

by Sweets_Thief



Category: Star Wars, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Anxiety, Brendol Hux's A+ Parenting, Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Parental Abuse, Physical Abuse, brendol hux is not nice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-06
Updated: 2017-05-06
Packaged: 2018-10-28 20:12:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10838577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sweets_Thief/pseuds/Sweets_Thief
Summary: Hux receives an invitation from his father to bring Kylo to Arkanis to "celebrate" their engagement. Things go as well as Hux assumed they would.





	Family Secrets

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rage_Against_the_Resistance](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rage_Against_the_Resistance/gifts).



> I'd like to make a disclaimer that this is not my view on homosexuality, or homosexual relationships, but just a representation requested from a prompt. Please heed the tags!
> 
> This is for kylo-is-my-bad-bae on Tumblr, as a present following a 50 follower giveaway I was doing. They asked for  
> "Hux brings Kylo back home to Arkansis and Brendol disapproves of their relationship, whether out of homophobia and/or because he just doesn't like Kylo."  
> and this is the result!

 

In hindsight, Kylo should have realised something was wrong when Hux went extremely pale after opening a brief communication sent by his father. Commandant Hux contacted his son every now and then, usually for menial things and Hux usually brushed them off and said he wasn’t going to give them any attention.

(Kylo knew he was lying, he knew Hux actioned every single request his father made, but he never brought it up).

Lacking hindsight in the moment, all Kylo did was frown and shift his position on the couch in Hux’s office to try and see what the communication said. It was easy enough to do from the position they were in, Kylo sitting with his legs curled under him, half-meditating and Hux leaning against his side, datapad on his thighs and working slowly.

Hux seemed to have other ideas, sitting up out of the position and gripping the datapad hard in his hands.

“What’s wrong?” Kylo asked, turning and trying to look over Hux’s head at the screen to see the offending message.”

“It’s my father. He wants me to come to Arkanis…and bring you. He wants to congratulate us on our engagement.” Hux spat. He always spoke about Brendol with such venom in his voice, as if he were nothing but an annoying buzzing somewhere in the Universe that Hux couldn’t get rid of.

Kylo tilted his head to the side, confused as to why that was a bad thing. He didn’t know too much about Hux’s relationship with his father, although he had gleaned through Hux’s attitude towards the Commandant that it was not good. Hux had also made it clear he would not tolerate Kylo looking into his mind for answers, no matter what happened. He had nightmares, and in the course of them he would scream and thrash, and his father’s name came up more often than not. The few times Brendol had come aboard the Finalizer to witness his son’s work first hand, Hux had been secretive and avoided Kylo’s touch for days. His entire attitude shifted and he became angrier and he went out of his way to keep Brendol and Kylo apart. He never once spoke about what had happened during Brendol’s visit.

And Kylo never asked. He had his secrets, and so did Hux, and he respected that. It didn’t stop him from speculating, and there was a part of him that already hated Brendol Hux without ever having properly met the man.

“Is it a bad thing?” Kylo inquired carefully. Hux usually shut these conversations down if he thought Kylo was trying to dig up information, and really, Kylo just wanted to know if they were going to be taking a short trip soon.

“He usually wants something from me, so this is most likely a guise for me to come home.” Hux said coldly, “Probably about my mother.”

Maratelle Hux was another barely talked about part of the Hux family, although Kylo knew a lot more about her. She was Brendol’s wife, although she had divorced him and taken half his assets when Hux had turned twenty-three and had begun his promising career. Hux kept in more frequent contact with her, as she had asked him to control her assets and make sure she was set for life with what she had taken from Brendol. Their relationship lacked the warmth a mother and son usually had, they seemed more like allies in arms than anything else, which only lent to Kylo’s confusion.

Still he didn’t press for answers Hux was unwilling to give.

“I will talk to the Supreme Leader.” Hux continued, standing off the couch and moving to slip into his greatcoat. “I will be back shortly.”

“You don’t want me to come?” Kylo asked, moving to stand as well.

Hux looked him over, the practised sneer he wore when he was trying to hide his anxiety in place. “Please Ren, like I need a babysitter. Besides, you’re barely dressed, I’ll have gotten there and back again before you even put your suspenders on.”

With that said he swept from the room, leaving Kylo a little dumbfounded behind him. It wasn’t uncommon for Hux’s tongue to grow sharper and crueller when Brendol was brought up in conversation. It was another little oddity that Kylo didn’t question.

Sighing, he shifted again on the couch, crossing his legs and attempting to meditate in the quiet of Hux’s office on what to do about the coming visit to Arkanis.

\--

It was raining when they arrived. Hux said that was normal, that it was always raining on Arkanis, and a clear day was usually seen as a bad sign. His mood was as miserable as the weather, and he had been keeping his hands busy during the flight, tearing bits of paper and fabric, undoing and redoing his uniform and restyling his hair whenever he had nothing else to do.

Kylo was comfortable enough despite the obvious discomfort Hux was feeling. He was wearing his mask, and would only remove it depending on how much he liked Brendol. That was another thing Hux was stressed about, but he didn’t ask Kylo to remove the mask, knowing it brought the man comfort in its own right.

The grounds of Brendol’s mansion on Arkanis was large enough for the shuttle to land in, meaning the walk to the front door of the mansion was short and sweet. The rain was fat and warm and soaked them both instantly as a droid brought their baggage in under the safety of cover.

Hux hesitated for a split second before knocking on the door.

A maid opened it, bowing to Hux and welcoming him with a greeting of “Master Hux.” Kylo frowned beneath the mask. Even in this household, which was obviously allied to the Order, Hux should have been greeted by the title of General. Hux didn’t argue it, merely walked stiffly into the house and forward down the halls towards his father’s study.

“Please wait outside, Ren.” He requested quietly, “He will want to speak to me first.”

“It is as you say, Master Hux.” The maid who had let them in said, having followed them to make sure they got to the right place. “If you would come with me, Lord Ren, I shall show you to your accommodation for your stay.”

“I assume I’m staying with Hux?” Kylo queried as the maid began to lead him away.

He didn’t miss the pained expression on Hux’s face, or the discomfort on the maids, and the Force seemed to crackle around him as if trying to warn him.

“Please, come this way.” The maid requested, avoiding the question and walking off quickly with her head down.

“Hux-.”

“I know you’re confused Ren. Just go with her, it will be fine.” Hux cut him off curtly, straightening his uniform before knocking on the door and entering the office when he received a gruff “enter” in response. Kylo watched him go inside, unable to fight the feeling he was watching Hux enter a lion’s den.

Brendol was standing near the window with a glass of brandy in his hand when Hux walked into the room. Neither spoke as Hux marched up to the desk and stopped just in front of it, the way he had done since being a child and Brendol had called for him. When five minutes had passed in silence and Hux felt as if his heart was going to beat out of his chest, Brendol turned and made his way to the desk, setting the brandy down but not sitting.

“I wasn’t expecting you to come.” He began.

“Yes, you were.” Hux disagreed, “I always do.”

“Watch your tone with me, boy.” Brendol barked.

Hux didn’t flinch, his green eyes fixed on a space over the fireplace just behind Brendol’s shoulder. He was stood in perfect military posture, arms straight down by his sides, legs together and feet slightly tilted out, as if at attention for a senior officer. Out of the two of them, he held the higher rank, as Brendol was Commandant in name only, but looking at them it was hard to tell that.

“So, you’re engaged. When were you going to tell me?” Brendol asked.

“When were you going to tell me you’ve started to have an interest in me as a person and not an asset?” Hux retorted before he could stop himself.

Brendol’s eyes narrowed.

He picked up the brandy and took a sip as he slowly walked around the desk to stand right in front of Hux. Again, the red-haired General didn’t flinch, but it was getting hard to control his breathing, to keep himself appearing physically calm.

Without warning, Brendol’s hand whipped out and smashed into Hux’s solar plexus. Hux bent immediately, the force of the blow sending him stumbling. He kept his feet, barely, hand going up to clutch the burning sting in his chest. Brendol cracked his knuckles as if nothing had happened, waiting patiently for Hux to begin right himself before he moved again.

One hand curled around the back of Hux’s head and _pushed._ Brendol was a big man, stronger than Hux, and he easily managed to force him to his knees in front of him. Hux resisted as much as he could, but Brendol kept pushing him down until he was nearly prone on the floor, face pressed into the lush rug beneath them.

“I don’t remember you ever being much of an asset to me, boy.” Brendol hissed, “Never more than a burden, and incapable of doing much of anything except helping that bitch take half of anything worth something to me.”

“You…deserve it!” Hux choked out, bracing his hands on the floor and pushing. He had the advantage now, as Brendol was bent at a weird angle to keep him on the floor, allowing Hux to slip out of his grip and scramble to his feet again. His ribs were already beginning to bruise from the blow, and his scalp was going to be sensitive for days, but at least he could hide those marks from Kylo when they reunited later.  
“Please excuse me, father, I’m tired from my long journey.” He said shortly.

Brendol didn’t try to stop him leaving the office, red faced and angry, glowering at Hux’s back as he swept from the room. Once the door was closed, Hux’s posture crumbled and he slumped against the wall. He would not cry in front of his father’s office, would not give his father the pleasure of hearing that ever again, but he needed to catch his breath. He knew where this anger was stemming from in Brendol. It wasn’t unusual for them to trade insults back and forth without getting physical, but the underlying circumstances of the visit were exacerbating things already, and neither had broached the subject.

“Hux, are you okay?”

Kylo’s voice broke Hux from his thoughts, and the man jumped and looked up. The dark-haired Knight was waiting for him at the end of the corridor leading to Brendol’s office. He was no longer wearing his mask, evidently aware he was not going to be meeting Brendol just yet.

“I’m fine.” Hux said shortly, hoping he didn’t sound too winded, “Just typical talk. Did they put you in a guest room?”

“I think so.” Kylo nodded warily, “What’s going on?”

“Nothing unusual.” Hux responded a little more harshly than he meant to, “I’m going upstairs.”

“Do you want-?”

“No. Just leave me alone.” Hux snapped, brushing past Kylo and disappearing down the hall before anything else could be said.

Kylo watched him go, noting how he was clutching at his ribs as he walked. He could feel Hux’s pain through the Force, had felt it a few moments ago, along with a spike in anxiety, anger and fear. It was why he had come looking for him, but there was something still there, warning him not to ask Hux directly what was happening.

As he turned to leave and wander the mansion until either Hux or a maid came for him, the door to Brendol’s office opened and Kylo paused as the man came out.

When their eyes met, Kylo confirmed the suspicion he had that he did not like Brendol Hux very much. The similarities between him and Hux were obvious, from the same eyes to the cut of their cheekbones and posture. Brendol was grey haired, and wider than Hux, clearly strong but with the frailty that was often found in older people. He looked over Kylo with barely hidden judgement, and then promptly adopted a charming expression.

“You must be Kylo Ren, Supreme Leader Snoke’s apprentice.” He said, approaching Kylo and holding out his hand.

“Commandant Hux,” Kylo nodded, “Thank you for inviting us.”

“You don’t mean that boy, don’t lie.” Brendol sneered, the expression a perfect mirror of Hux’s own, although less a mask and more a genuine expression of distaste. “Neither you nor that ungrateful brat upstairs are happy to be here.”

Kylo bristled at the insult to Hux, and Brendol saw it.

“I suppose you think I’m cruel.” He said, folding his arm, “I didn’t have to take on Armitage, I could have left him to his servant mother, but that boy is my blood as much as hers, and stars help me if I was letting any amount of Hux blood be wasted.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Kylo said through gritted teeth.

Brendol’s eyes widened almost comically, and he smiled slyly. “He never told you then.”

“Told me what?”

“That Maratelle isn’t his mother.” Brendol replied almost too gleefully, as if telling Kylo this was going to suddenly turn his opinion on Hux upside-down. “He’s the son of a kitchen servant, a whore who threw herself at anyone she could for a bit of extra money. I took him on and made him great out of the goodness of my own heart. And he repays me with ungratefulness and a cold shoulder.”

Kylo stared at Brendol in shock. As the man spoke, he received flashes a pretty, red haired girl who he had seduced into his bed, and abandoned at the first sign Maratelle knew he was cheating. The babe he had taken from her despite her pleas to keep him, and she had died soon after, her child ripped from her. There was nothing innocent about Brendol Hux in that vision, and Kylo knew it to be the truth.

“I don’t see how that is a bad reflection on Hux.” He growled, “More a bad reflection on your inability to keep it in your pants. He made himself great, and has achieved things you couldn’t even imagine in that lecherous brain of yours.”

Brendol’s face grew red as Kylo spoke, and he looked as if he were about to yell at him, only to think better of it. Kylo didn’t give him another chance to speak, turning on his heel and stalking off.

Hux wanted to be alone, but Kylo had no desire to be around that man. He found his way to the guest bedroom he had been given, which as it turned out was right next to Hux’s room anyway. If Hux was inside he gave nothing away, for the room was silent.

Kylo lay down on the bed and stared at the ornate ceiling, a sinking feeling in his gut telling him this had been a bad idea.

\--

Dinner was no better.

Hux was extremely tense and anxious, and within five minutes he had completely destroyed his napkin. Brendol was sat at the head of the table, with Hux to his right and Kylo to his left. Kylo wanted to get up and sit next to Hux, having realised just before dinner why they had been given different rooms, and why Hux had been so anxious.

Brendol didn’t hide it.

“So, you’re engaged.” He began as the appetisers came out.

Hux picked at his food and didn’t reply.

“Yes, happily so.” Kylo responded airily.

Brendol snorted, “Please, no one like you can be happily engaged.”

Hux went tense, gripping his fork so tightly Kylo was sure he was going to bend the metal itself. “Please don’t start this.” He whispered, “Just leave it.”

“Oh no, Armitage, I’m going to have my say. I’m your father.” Brendol countered, “Since you didn’t see fit to consult me before getting engaged.”

“What was there to consult about?” Hux asked quietly, “You would have voiced your disapproval, I would have become engaged anyway and you would have asked to meet Ren. Well, here he is.”

“Yes, not exactly impressive though is he?” Brendol sniffed, tucking into the food as if he hadn’t just insulted Kylo.

Hux looked up at Kylo and he was shocked to find a pleading expression on his face. He didn’t want Kylo to respond, he didn’t want to add any more fuel to the fire, hoping Brendol would change the subject. His eyes told Kylo to stay quiet, to hold his tongue no matter what Brendol said, and Kylo promised mentally that he would, knowing Hux could hear. He offered Hux a comforting hug through the Force and he shifted uncomfortably.

Kylo frowned.

“So then, tell me how this…happened?” Brendol interupted before Kylo could voice his concerns. He waved his fork, gesturing to both Kylo and Hux, “Tell me how this unnatural thing happened?”

“There’s nothing unnatural about love!” Hux hissed, glaring at his plate.

“No Armitage, there would be nothing unnatural about love if you were conventional about it.” Brendol argued.

Kylo couldn’t believe his ears. Brendol was eating as if they were talking about nothing but the weather, and Hux was growing more and more anxious as the conversation went on. Reaching out through the Force, Kylo sensed that this wasn’t the first time Hux and his father had had this conversation, and it wasn’t the first time Brendol had expressed his distaste for Hux’s sexuality.

“You should have brought home a wife, and announced your plans to have children.” Brendol continued nonchalantly.

“I don’t have time for children.” Hux muttered.

“Ah yes, your job playing as General.” Brendol nodded, “How could I forget.”

Hux stood up, his chair scraping back against the floor and his cutlery clanking against his plate. Kylo stood too, finding it harder and harder to keep quiet despite knowing Hux wanted him to.

“Don’t walk away from me, boy.” Brendol warned.

Hux paused as he started away from the table.

“You don’t think you can bring this…man here and not face consequences, do you?” The Commandant sounded as if he were scolding a child as he slowly stood up as well and walked around the table towards Hux.

Kylo couldn’t stop himself any longer, “Don’t talk to him like-.”

“Silence!” Brendol roared in his direction as Hux turned to him and began. “Kylo, please-.”

It happened too fast after that, too fast for any of them to react.

Hux began to walk away again, to move around the table to Kylo’s side. He was going to tell his father they were leaving, that he knew the offer had just been for him to berate Hux about his sexuality and he wasn’t going to stand for it anymore. Kylo knew that, Hux was thinking it loud enough for him to hear.

Apparently, Brendol could sense it too.

He reached out and grabbed Hux’s arm in a vice grip, jerking him backwards towards Brendol himself, yelling “I said don’t walk away from me!”. Hux tripped over his own feet, allowing Brendol to pull him close, and then shove him away with so much force that Hux fell, his head colliding with the table with a loud bang and a cry of pain.

Brendol was on him after that, and he managed to get two good hits to Hux’s face before Kylo came back to himself and froze him with the Force, his fist an inch from connecting with Hux again.

“Unhand me!” He demanded.

A manic laugh escaped Kylo as he stalked around the table and withdrew his lightsaber from his belt. Brendol eyed it and fear flashed in his eyes. _Typical,_ Kylo thought, _like all bullies, scared when they meet their match._

“I don’t believe you’re in the position to be making demands.” Kylo’s words seethed anger, and Brendol was right to be scared. “You think you can do that to my fiancé, in front of me, and get away with it. You forget who you’re dealing with.”

“A freak.” Brendol spat. “A freak of nature who must be just as broken as that brat to fall in love with him.”

“Enough.” Kylo shouted, his right hand coming up and silencing Brendol immediately. He ignited the lightsaber and stalked towards him.

“Kylo!”

Hux’s voice was weak, and from his tone Kylo could tell immediately he was crying, but it was barely enough to stop him from running Brendol Hux through there and then. It all made sense now. Hux avoided him because whenever Brendol visited he would physically abuse his son, and Hux was hiding the evidence. The anger, the stress, the snappy comments, it was Hux taking out his frustrations on the crew and Kylo after Brendol’s visit. The drive to prove himself, to be better, to be the most achieved man in the Galaxy at such a young age, it was all because of Brendol Hux, and the abuse Hux had most likely been subjected to since childhood.

Kylo felt sick when he thought of the homophobia he had probably faced from his own father too.

“Kylo, please!” Hux cried again, and this time Kylo paid attention. The red-haired man had climbed to his feet and the state of his face was enough to nearly break Kylo’s barely maintained control again.

Hux’s forehead was bleeding, gashed open from where it had hit the table. His cheek and eye-socket where Brendol had landed his punches were bruising already, and Brendol’s ring had cut him. The white of his eyes was red with burst blood vessels, and he was crying.

“Please just, take me home.” Hux pleaded, “Leave him, just take me home.”

“He deserves to die!” Kylo snarled, “He should die for ever laying a finger on you!”

“It isn’t the first time…Kylo please I just want to go home.” Hux’s breath hitched as he spoke from the effort of trying to supress his sobs, and it was with great difficulty that Kylo turned his lightsaber off and walked over to Hux.

“It will be the last. If he ever comes within sight of you again, Armitage, I will kill him.” Kylo informed him angrily, ghosting his fingers along the painful bruises on Hux’s face.

“Not if I do it first.” Hux attempted to joke, but it fell flat because of his tears and the blood trickling down his face.

Kylo had to take a big, calming breath when he turned back to Brendol, who was still frozen, and would be remaining that way for as long as Kylo chose.

“I will be sending Stormtroopers to collect our things. If you ever contact General Hux again, you will be arrested.” He threatened the man, who could do nothing but stare at them. “And the same goes for your ex-wife as well. I understand why she and Hux are so close, you’re a disgusting man. You’re lucky I’m loyal to my General, to my fiancé, because if he wasn’t here, or you’d have landed another blow, I would have killed you.”

Igniting his saber again, Kylo sliced right through the table, spilling food, cutlery and drinks all over the carpet.

“Kylo!” Hux gasped, “That was the finest mahogany!”

“It worries me you can act so normal after this.” Kylo sighed, “He’s really beaten you down, huh?”

Hux’s expression turned dangerous at that, even as he winced as the muscles on his face pulled. “No one has beaten me down. I’m the most powerful man in the Galaxy right now, I have an entire army at my beck and call. Now…please can we go?”

Kylo nodded, pulling off his cowl and wrapping it around Hux’s shoulders to give him something to hide his face with. As they walked from the dining room, leaving Brendol frozen in the middle, Kylo used the Force to summon his mask from the bedroom, catching it just as they arrived at the shuttle.

Hux silently wormed his way into Kylo’s lap when they were alone on the shuttle, and Kylo let him. He held him the entire journey back to the Finalizer, with a silent vow that the next time Brendol Hux so much as breathed in Hux’s direction, he would die.

**Author's Note:**

> check out my [tumblr](http://rannystuffandthings.tumblr.com/) if you want! thanks for reading


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